The Flash #229

The Black Death

Joey Cavalieri -- Writer
Val Semeiks -- Penciller
Livesay -- Inker
Pat Brosseau -- Letterer
James Sinclair -- Colorist
Harvey Richards -- Asst. Editor
Stephen Wacker -- Editor

Our cover by Art Thibert truly puts the "savage" in Vandal Savage. Yeah, his face is a tiny bit goofy-looking, but Wally and Jay do look like they're really struggling against these chains. I am sad that Kid Flash didn't make the cover, after all, Vandal Savage captured him, too. But all in all, this is a good, striking image.

Our story begins with Wally having yet another nightmare, this one of him laying a wreath of roses on his children's grave. Back in the real world, Wally is being placed in restraints next to Jay and Bart. Jay mocks Vandal Savage, who retaliates by punching him and threatening to create clones of Jay that he can keep killing over and over. He then leaves with the Summoner, placing two guards to watch over the speedsters.

Vandal Savage sets up the Summoner outside with the rest of his congregation and activates it. Turns out it's a device that can connect to an asteroid in outer space and draw it, or "summon" it, to Earth. Savage rejoices that this asteroid is large enough to wipe out all life on the planet, and his followers foolishly believe they'll somehow board the asteroid and ride it like a starship to the heavens — a lie Savage has told them to keep them complicit.

Back inside, Bart and Wally follow Jay's lead by vibrating fast enough to become invisible. The guards believe the speedsters somehow escaped their restraints, so they unlock all the manacles to try to figure out what went wrong. Once freed, the speedsters quickly knock out the guards and place them in the restraints. Bart asks Jay which adventure he learned that trick from, and Jay admits he got it from the old Bob Hope and Bing Crosby movie, "The Road to Morocco."

Our heroes rush outside and quickly see the Summoner in action — they can actually see the asteroid being pulled toward Earth. Jay recounts how Vandal Savage received his immortality from the radiation of an asteroid eons ago, and he worries what another asteroid will do to him. Wally admits that Savage had tricked him on another previous occasion to give him more pieces of that original asteroid when the radiation was wearing off. Bart finds it odd how casually they're talking about radiation, saying, "Oh, I just passed 'Go.' Give me my $200 and some radiation, please."

Savage's super-powered congregation spots the speedsters and charge at them. Wally says these were just normal people who were hoodwinked by Savage, and he warns his companions not to hurt them. So Jay quickly digs a trench in front of the people, which they all fall into. This gives Wally enough time to come up with a plan. He asks Jay to check on Linda and his twins, Bart is tasked with tending to the panicking crowds in Keystone City, and Wally will take on Vandal Savage.

Bart first tends to the hordes of people evacuating across a bridge. He creates an open lane for emergency vehicles and reunites separated families. He ends fights in supermarkets, brings injured people to the hospital, and does everything he can to keep people calm and patient. Despite his efforts, Bart feels like he's unable to make much of a difference and he secretly worries about what will happen if Wally fails his task.

Jay heads to Wally and Linda's house, but finds it empty. However, Linda arranged some children's blocks to spell out Jay's name — a secret message to indicate she's safe. Jay eventually finds her in a suite owned by her TV station. She faked being sick to convince her parents to evacuate there with her and not run off to join Vandal Savage. Linda's dad is caring for the twins, while her mom is creepily offering prayers to Vandal Savage. Once her parents leave the room, Jay reveals himself and Linda expresses her concern of the hold the super villain has over her parents. Jay hypothesizes that Savage's influence will subside eventually if they move them farther away. He offers to stay with Linda for now, saying that Wally is currently battling Savage. But before Wally can get to Savage, he has to fight through his congregation.




This story is problematic. Vandal Savage ultimately wants to kill everyone on Earth with an asteroid. Makes sense. But why did he set himself up as a preacher of a phony religion with a congregation he gave superpowers to? Why did he set up an elaborate false narrative to trick the Flash into giving him a device he surely could have stolen himself? And how did he capture Bart and Jay? And how did Linda know it was going to be Jay looking for her and not her husband? And ... uh, I could go on, but you get the idea.

There are certainly elements of this story I like. Wally's concern over his children overriding his good judgment. Bart getting a chance to shine by responsibly keeping an entire city from tearing itself apart. But too many things bring this story down — including the lackluster art. It's really sad to see Wally's run end like this.

Next time, we'll get back to the Brother Blood fight in Teen Titans #31.